What if
by rabidcrazygirl
Summary: AU...or is it? Consider what would have happened if Booth and the team hadn't found Hodgins and Brennan in time. Not nice, is it? Angela's POV. Hodgela, VERY slight BB. NOT ACTUALLY ANGSTY. it's actually quite fluffy. Read and find out why!


**It may seem angsty, but don't let that fool you—it is actually quite fluffy. Read and find out! And then why not review?**

**Disclaimer: do I seem like the kind of person who would own a successful TV show? No is the answer that you are looking for.**

"We are gathered here to mourn for the passing of two people from this world," droned the priest. "Two of the brightest minds in modern science, abruptly snuffed out: Dr. Jack Hodgins and Dr. Temperance Brennan."

Angela Montenegro stared at the grass, unblinking. She did not need to look up—she knew that next to her stood Booth with his fists clenched, a vein throbbing in his temple and his dark eyes bright with unshed tears. She knew that to her right stood Zack, face pale and lips moving as he said a silent prayer for his mentor and his friend. She knew that the two coffins were ten feet in front of her, gleaming black in the sun. She knew that Russ was kneeling next to the one on the right, the one with his sister's picture resting on the lid, tears streaming silently down his face as he mourned the loss of the last of his family. She knew exactly how many blades of grass were in her field of vision (1,328), how long she could go without blinking (one minute and fifty-six seconds) and how many black sequins were embroidered onto her sleeve (23).

What she didn't know was what she was going to do with herself now that he was gone.

Booth had been frightening when they'd found them. Angela doubted that she'd ever be able to forget the animal howl that seemed to tear itself from his throat as he clutched at Brennan's limp hands and stroked her hair. It rang in her ears still, even as she stood in this bright meadow with the birds singing softly and the sunlight beating down on them.

She'd cried when they'd found the two of them. They'd looked like they'd just fallen asleep in the back of the car, and Angela had seen both Brennan and Hodgins fall asleep in all kinds of places. They'd looked to…natural for her to think of as dead. To her, dead bodies were what they got in the lab—too mangled or decomposed to have ever been human.

But she'd cried anyway, because two of the most important people in her life were gone, just like that. Or so she thought. But last night, she'd realized that she hadn't cried for him. She'd let out her feelings for her friend, for the woman she respected as a scientist and a person, but she hadn't cried for Jack.

Just as she couldn't admit to herself that she was in love with him, now she couldn't admit that he was gone. Every second, she expected him to grin at her, blue eyes twinkling with some new theory, some new idea. She expected him to walk up behind her, to tap her on the shoulder and ask her what was going on. She expected to hear him call her "Baby," and brush the hair from her eyes and tell her how he felt about her and try and try and try to make her see what she was too afraid to know—that she was head over heels, madly, totally, completely, insanely in love with Jack Hodgins.

And now it was too late.

She felt her lower lip tremble and she took a deep breath. Someone behind her put a hand on her shoulder and she turned, gaze falling on a tall man in a black suit who stood there.

"Miss Angela Montenegro?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yes, that's me." The man held up a folded piece of paper with a ragged edge.

"They found this in Dr. Hodgins' pocket when they were inspecting," he said. Angela blinked dumbly up at him. "It's addressed to you."

"Oh—" said Angela. "Um…thank you." She took the paper from him and held it in her cold, trembling hands. The man placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I am very sorry for your loss," he whispered. Angela found his words—the condolences of a stranger—oddly comforting. She nodded, and he disappeared off through the crowd. Angela turned her eyes to the letter in her hand. _I guess that Hodgins found a way to send me one last note,_ she thought to herself. Slowly, fearing what the paper might say, she opened it.

_Ange, baby—_

_I'm not sure if you're ever going to get this. I'm not sure if you'll ever actually find us. But if you don't get to Dr. Brennan and me in time, I just figured that there is something that you ought to know._

_I'm in love with you. God. I am so in love with you. Every time you meet my eyes, I feel like my heart is being squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. If you walk into the room, it's like all the air has evaporated. We deserve to be together, baby. It's true. And if I get out of here alive, then I vow that I will tell you this in person. As it is, if you're reading this, then…well, I probably won't have the chance to. But no matter what happens, baby—rain or shine, winter or summer, life or death, I am in love with you. And I will stay in love with you._

_All my heart_

_Jack_

Angela felt long-awaited tears prick at the corner of her eyes. She carefully folded the letter up and placed it in her purse just in time for a silent sob to well up and wrack her entire body. An arm around her shoulder—Booth—made her turn blindly and bury her face in his chest. Another hand—Zack—rested itself on her back, and she sobbed herself into darkness.

**xXx**

Angela Montenegro woke with a start and stared into the blackness of her bedroom. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel the wetness of tears staining her cheeks. "God," she muttered, drawing a shaky breath. Beside her, someone stirred.

"Angela?" came Jack Hodgins' sleepy voice. "What's wrong, baby?" He sat up slowly, wincing as he bent his mangled legs in an uncomfortable way.

"Just—just a nightmare," Angela said, running a hand through her long, tumbled hair. Jack ran a hand down her back.

"Hey—I'm supposed to be the one with nightmares," he said with a grin that she could see even in the dark. Angela turned to face him and ran her hand down his cheek to cup his face.

"Jack," she said, her tone serious. "I don't ever want to lose you again. Ever."

"Well then, that's two of us, baby," he said, covering her hand with his. "I promise that I'm never going to let you go again." He brushed tears off of her cheek with his free hand. "I love you, Ange," he whispered.

Angela leant forward and covered his lips with hers. Hodgins buried both hands in her hair, and just before their kiss became too passionate, Angela broke away and said, their faces centimeters apart, "I love you, too."

**I couldn't let it end all angsty and sad like that, now, could I? Of course not. Review please! **


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